Crane or derrick



Dec. 16, 1952 P. J. M. T. ALLARD 2,621,804

CRANE oa DERRICK Filed March 1. 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Arty.;

Dec. 16, 1952 P. J. M. r. ALLARD 2,621,804

CRANE 0R bERRIcx Filed Maren 1, 194e 4 sheets-sheet 2 Dec. 1.6, 1952 P. J. M. T. ALI- ARD 2,621,804

0R DERRICK Filed March 1, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet I5 Dec. 16, 1952 P. J. M. T. ALLARD 2,521,304

@RAME 0R DERRICK Y Filed March l, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 (D f I J INVENTOR PIERRE J. M. T. ALLARD.

ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 16, -1952 CRANE OR DERRICK Pierre Jean Marie Theodore Allard, Chantilly, France Application March 1, 1946, Serial No. 651,198 In France September 22, 1943 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patent expires September 22, 1963 3 Claims.

The invention has for its object a crane or derrick with a grab bucket and automatic sluing of the jib, this sluing being produced when the weight of the full bucket after the latter has been raised is transferred wholly or partly to an auxiliary cable distinct from the latter.

According to the invention the said auxiliary cable which is guided to pass in the neighbourhood of the axis of the pillar or support of the crane Apasses around a guide pulley carried by the jib at a certain distance from the said axis and is held fixed at its end so that the tension communicated to the said cable by the weight f of the bucket between the guide pulley and the fixed point develops a couple `producing the rotation of the jib.

Other characteristics of the invention will appear'from the following description with referenceA to the annexed drawing which shows by Way of example different embodiments of the invention and in which .Fig 1 is a diagrammatic elevation of a firstA embodiment of the invention.

Figs. 2 to 4 are corresponding plan views of the jib in three positions of operation.

Fig.'5 is a View similar to Fig. 1 showing a variant.

Fig. (iA is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing in plan the jib of the crane of Fig. 5.

Figure 7 is a detail of a known construction of the connection between the ring or bell member of the auxiliary cable and the hanging member of the hoisting cable.

- Referring to Figsl to 4, I designates the post or jib-post of the crane which is mounted so that it can rotate 4between two pivots 2 and 3 and slopes forwards at an angle a' relatively to the vertical. The pivot 3 is secured to a stationary base 5 and the pivot 2 is secured to a buttress 4 which is secured to the base 5. On the post I is xed a two-arm jib 6 supporting at its end a pulley I over which passes the lifting cable 8. The cable 8 is guided by a second' pulleyV S mounted on the post I and Winds on to a lifting winch Y Ill. At its free end the cable 8 is fastened to a grab-bucket II.

On the same shaft as the pulley 1 is mounted a second pulley la. acting as a guide for an auxiliary cable I2 which then passes over two pulleys I3 and I4 mounted' on the post I in such a manner that the cable I2 passes substantially through the pivotal axis of the post I. The cabley to a lateralstationarypoint II of the base 5. Y

At its free end, the auxiliary cable I2 supports a ring I8 adapted to engage a hanging Imember I8a carried by the grab-bucket II in order to enable it to be opened by slackening the lifting cable 8.

The connection between the -ring or bellshaped member I8 and the hanging member I8a is diagrammatically shown here because it is a well known and commonly used connection and is clearly exemplified in Figure 1 of French Patent No. 981,298, which is reproduced here as Figure 7, except that the chain of the French patent is here shown as the cable 8 of the accompanying drawings. In this figure, the elements A, B, C, D, correspond to the element diagrammatically illustrated as IBa in Figure 1. The collar F and coupling or flange G correspond to the bell member I 8 Yhooked to the cable I2 in Figure 1.

In Figure '7, A represents the head of the grab or bucket I I which carries two or three shafts H around -which pawls B pivot in passing through openings E. These pawls, with their outer portion forming a counterbalance, rest on abutments C of the head A. In the interior of the head A `there is a movable slide-block I, also equipped with holes K, whose upper edges rest on the pawls B. The movement of the slideblock inside the head A is limited by the two circular shoulders L and M on the member D. 'I'he bell I 8, comprising the parts F and G is supported from the auxiliary cable I2 by the jib 6, and it is equipped with three shafts N on which pawls O pivot, these pawls passing through the openings P in the part F and are adapted to hook in under the flange of the slide-block I at one end, while the other end supports a coupling or control flange G along the upper rims of the openings Q made in this flange G. The hoisting cable 8 has a special link R with an abutment S adapted to slide inside the slideblock I to rest on the bottom thereof on a circular protruding base T adapted to hook in under the pawls B when these are in their horizontal position. The pawls B are so mounted as to reduce friction to a minimum.

The bell I8 and hanging member Ia cooperate as follows. The loaded bucket is lifted by the cable 8 and as it ascends the head A strikes the bottom of the flange G and lifts it slightly, which results in the release of the pawls O which fall back under their own weight; simultaneously, the slide-block I enters the head F and its ange D passes above the pawls O, after pushing them back while ascending.. At this moment the lifting cable is slackened and. the

bucket remains suspended from the head F by the pawls O. As the bucket opens, the cable 3 is taken up until the special link R rests on the abutment T of the slide-block I, after pushing aside the pawls B which are then returned to their hooking-in position. The cable 8 is slightly taken up again, the special link R strikes under the pawls B' and lifts the slide-block I, the upper part of ywhich in its turn strikes the head F while the flange G pushes back the pawls O. The slide-block is now released from the head and the bucket, which is attached to the cable 8 only by means of the pawls B, can now be lowered. The bucket is rested on the material to be loaded and the cable is slackened; the slideblock I falls back under its own weight, pushing aside the pawls B. The cable 8 is pulled and the link R is not stopped in its upward movement since the pawls B are pushed aside, and the bucket starts closing while going up for a new cycle of Yoperation as described.

It can be seen that by means of this arrangement, when the bucket II becomes attached to the ring I8 and its` weight is thus transferred from the cable 8 to the cable I2, the tension T (Fig. 3, imparted to the cable I2 and transmitted' between the stationary point II and the turnpulley I5 produces a couple tending to rotate the jib ii-II in the direction F1.

The device operates as follows:

When inoperative and owing to the forward slope of the post I, the jib 6 assumes the position of Figs. 1 and' 2 corresponding to the pick up point. 'The winch Ii! is then rotated so as to wind up the cable S, thereby causing the grab II to close and then move upwards. At the inH stant when the hanging member Illa of the grab il becomes attached to the ring I8, the cable 8 is slightly slackened and the whole weight of the grab-bucket is thus transferred to the cable I2, the tension of which causes the jib E to rotate in the direction F1 until it assumes the position of Fig. 4 corresponding to the emptying and in which as the pulleys I4 and I5 and the stationary point I'I are in a straight line, the couple produced by the tension of the cable I2 is eliminated.

The slack of the cable 8 is then increased, the grab I I opens and empties itself. When the grab II is empty, the winch I@ is again operated so as to wind up the cable 8 and the weight of the grab is again transferred to said cable 8. As no tension is now exerted on the cable I2, the jib 5 returns to the position of Fig. 2 owing to the slope of its axis of rotation.

The stationary point I l may be located on either side of the jib 5 according to the direction of rotation which it is d'esired to give to the jib t.

In order to retain the jib 6 in any desired angular position, for example in the emptying position of Fig. 4 it is necessary to use a brake, an example of which is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. It comprises a cable 3U which is fixed at both its ends 39a and Sec to the base 5 and which winds a few turns on a loose drum 3l supported by the rear extension l of the jib The drum 3l can be braked by a shoe 33 actuated' by a pedal or lever 32. When the jib E-I t rotates, the cable E causes the drum 3l to rotate and in order to prevent the jib 6 from rotating when it is in any angular position, it is only necessary to lock the drum 3| by means of the brake 32, 33,

In Figs. 5 and 6 another embodiment has been shown in which use is made, as auxiliary cable,

'4 of an opening cable I2a, which, as known, enables the opening of the grab to be controlled at any height of lift.

Said cable I2a passes over the pulleys I3, |13 and I5 which are identical to those of Figs. l to 4, and is then returned' by passing over a lateral pulley 22 with a stationary shaft, supported by the base 5 and, after passing over a turnpulley 23, winds on to a drum I9 provided with a counterweight 2E! and a brake 2I. The counterweight 20 serves to impart constantly a slight tension to the cable I2a, and the brake 2l, by locking the drum I9, enables the section of the cable I2a passing over the pulley 22 to be made stationary. It will therefore be seen that when the brake 2I is fully applied, the lateral stationary point of the cable I2a comprises the pulley 22 which performs the same function as the stationary point I'I of the embodiment of Figure l and', when the cable I2a` is subjected to a pull, enables a couple to be produced which tends to rotate the jib i--IG and bring the pulleys I4 and I 5 into alignment with the pulley 22.

This device operates as follows:

The whole arrangement being in the pickup position, the winch I is actuated so as to wind up the lifting cable 8. The grab closes and moves upwards, the cable I2a simultaneously winding on to the drum I9 by the action of the counterweight 29 which rotates said d'rum in the winding direction of the cable I2a. When the desired height has been reached, the drum I9 is locked by means of the brake 2| in order to make the corresponding end of the cable I2a stationary and a slight slack is simultaneously given to the cable 8, suflicient for the weight of the grab to be transferred to the cable I2a but insufficient to cause the grab to open. By the action of the pull which is thus exerted' on the cable I2a, the jib -ll then rotates in exactly the same conditions as in Figs. 1 to 4.

When the emptying point is reached, the jib is locked by means of the brake of Figs. 3 and 4, then the cable 5 is given suiiicient slack to produce the opening and the emptying of the grab. The winch Ill is then actuated again in order to wind up the cable 8 while retaining the drum I9 locked. The weight of the grab is transferred to the cable 8 and as the cable I2a is no longer subjected' to any tension, the jib -IS returns to the pick-up point as in the example of Figs. 1 to 4.

Having now described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1.111 a sluing crane, the combination of a frame-work, a pivoting pillar on said framework, a jib carried by said pivoting pillar, a hoisting cable passing on pulleys carried by said pillar and jib and adapted to engage with a load' to be hoisted, guiding and winding means for said hoisting cable, hanging means secured to said load, an auxiliary cable carrying at one end hooking means adapted to engage said hanging means, means for guiding said auxiliary cable through a point substantially on the axis of said pillar, means for holding the opposite end of said auxiliary cable from a fixed point laterally situated relatively to said axis, and a pulley carried by said jib, remote from said' axis and adapted to return said auxiliary cable from said guiding means towards said fixed point.

2. A sluing crane as claimed in claim 1 wherein the load is a grab bucket and' said hooking means comprises an opening bell member.

3. A sluing crane as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for holding the opposite end of said auxiliary cable comprises a guiding pulley carried by said framework at a point laterally situated relatively to the axis of said pillar and an auxiliary winch for winding said' auxiliary cable. PIERRE JEAN MARIE 'I'HODORE ALLARD.

REFERENCES CITED Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Nickle Nov. 7, 1876 Ray Nov. 29, 1887 Hayward Nov. 17, 1903 Schuman Nov. 17, 1908 Barene July 29, 1924 McWilliams Nov. 1, 1932 

